Art or bioterrorism... who cares?

[bascule]

http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/09/26/art-or-bioterrorism-who-cares/

 

Some of you might remember the case of Steve Kurtz. When emergency responders arrived at his home to treat his wife for heart failure (which she ended up dying of), they saw lots of scary things: sciency stuff like petri dishes with bacteria cultures.

 

Being reasonably minded, level headed people, the emergency responders jumped to the only conclusion for the possible use of this sort of thing: BIOTERROR

 

Kurtz's wife's body was confiscated and his block quarantined, his house ransacked and anything that could give a potential clue to his activities confiscated. Kurtz was detained and questioned for 22 hours.

 

A public health commissioner and FBI field and lab tests showed everything in Kurtz's possession was harmless. But of course, that didn't stop the Justice Department for attempting to prosecute him for BIOTERROR

 

What kind of world are we living in? Breadboards are bombs. Petri dishes are bioterror weapons.

 

Should we be afraid of science, because terrorists could use it too?

[lovejunkie02]

scary, but not surprising.

do you know if he was ever convicted? what does this mean for the research he was conducting? and they even included the guy that was involved in the research with him in the charges! bogus.

one thing i'm wondering though... why was he conducting this research at home?

unbelievable.

[bascule]

do you know if he was ever convicted?

 

He ended up being convicted for "mail fraud" and "wire fraud" for $256 of bacteria he obtained

 

what does this mean for the research he was conducting?

 

They ended up completing all of the projects he was attempting

 

one thing i'm wondering though... why was he conducting this research at home?

 

He was doing the prep work for several of the projects at home. Some were meant to be taken on the road, like a GMO testing kit

[ParanoiA]

How ridiculous. Why do we feel the need to punish people when we make a mistake? The dude wasn't a bioterrorist. Once that was figured out, why mess with him? They should be kissing his ass and saying they're sorry.

 

A funny incident in Texas involved the mistaken identification of marijuana plants by the DEA or something - it was some other plant. But for a few hours they were ransacking his house and had him in cuffs. Later, once they figured out he was right and they were mistaken, they supposedly laughed it off and the guy didn't give them any more slack about it.

 

Gee, how down to earth the deep south has become in comparison...

[DrDNA]

It does sound like he was treated in an unnecessary manner....and while in grief over his loved one.

 

It's very sad. You would think they could have at least found some illegal shrooms growing in those Pitre dishes.

 

When law enforcement comes accross something that looks and/or smells fishy, I think that most of us will agree that it is their duty to investigate further.

Unfortunately, they have been trained to be zealous in their efforts.....or is it fortunate?

[bascule]

I'm just wondering when the authorities will stop going nuclear and screaming TERRORIST over benign instruments of science like petri dishes and breadboards (with bare wires. Bare wires mean terrorism)

 

I'm surprised this incident wasn't branded a bioterrorism hoax

[insane_alien]

i'm going to walk into an airport with a labcoat on and an empty testube in the pocket just to see what happens well, obviously i'll wear a kevlar body suit.

[Pangloss]

There's nothing new about this sort of stupidity. Just ask Steve Jackson. That was 1993.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games%2C_Inc._v._United_States_Secret_Service

 

My desk got searched by the Secret Service in 1994 and I've always wondered if it had something to do with the fact that I had a copy of GURPS Cyberpunk sitting on it. (President Clinton was visiting the building at the time.) Still get a chuckle every time I think of it.

 

Not so much fun for guys like Kurtz and Jackson, though, I'm sure.

[Phi for All]

If you make a mistake and apologize about it you are at most incompetent, at the least mistaken (and who likes to make mistakes?). If you make a mistake but keep digging you may find something else that will vindicate you. I think this is the mentality in these situations. Imagine if you bust this guy for bioterrorism, find out you're mistaken, apologize, and later learn that you missed the meth lab he had in the hidden sub-basement? That's probably what goes through law enforcement's mind when a snafu like this occurs.

 

It sucks but I think CYA is at work in most cases like this.

My desk got searched by the Secret Service in 1994 and I've always wondered if it had something to do with the fact that I had a copy of GURPS Cyberpunk sitting on it. (President Clinton was visiting the building at the time.) Still get a chuckle every time I think of it.

A buddy of mine and I were on the staff of the CU Denver student newspaper and he went down to cover the Ford / Dole rally when they came through town in 1976. He'd taken his brown bag lunch to eat and a Secret Service guy suddenly appeared and just grabbed it out of his hand and started mashing it up feeling for anything solid. He never bothered to look inside (in fact his eyes never left my buddy's face). When he'd mangled it thoroughly he just dropped the bag on the ground and moved on.

 

The ham and swiss sandwich didn't survive. My buddy was so lucky he'd run out of apples that morning.

 

That was Secret Service paranoia from 30 years ago. It seems like that's become par for the course with lesser agencies these days. I wonder what the Secret Service is like in the age of Homeland Security?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Sandwich rights abuse?

[Phi for All]

Sandwich rights abuse?

Is it illegal to carry around a razor blade and broken glass on rye sandwich?

[pcollins]

Hmmm...so the guy had dying woman in his house, books on bioweapons, and bacteria cultures. Nothing to see here.

[Mr Skeptic]

Is it illegal to carry around a razor blade and broken glass on rye sandwich?

 

If a law enforcement officer cut himself on it, you would be prosecuted for whatever charges they have for poisoning food. They'd probably throw attempted murder on top for good measure. You know its true.

 

I think it is more about avoiding blame for making a mistake. People need to start suing them when they do this, and then they will stop.

 

I think the problem with advanced sciency equipment is that it is quite unusual for people to have these now days, so anyone who does have them [in their home] sticks out like a sore thumb. Sciency stuff can also be used for nefarious purposes, so the cautious thing to do may well be to investigate. Trouble is, when they don't find anything they don't want to admit they made a mistake.